IMAGES of little Isaiah Dickerson, whose fall into a gorilla enclosure at Cincinnati Zoo led to the shooting to death of a rare silverback, has been released to the public.
Father Deonne Dickerson and his girlfriend Michelle Gregg, are now being investigated over child neglect.
As social media fury whipped into a frenzy, police are now investigating if there is enough evidence to charge the parents over the incident.
It comes as one eyewitness claimed Gregg didn’t initially realise it was her son who had fallen into the pit.
Read more:'Mummy, I want to swim with the gorilla' said boy
Kim O’Connor said the boy had earlier told his mother he "wanted to swim with the gorilla" as she was preparing to leave the exhibit with a female friend and several other children.
"People around me were talking about how big the gorilla was, calling him King Kong, and I heard him say 'I wanna go' and the mom was like, 'No, you're not'," said Kim, who filmed the incident.
”She was putting kids in the strollers, there were four or five kids total, and getting ready to leave the exhibit.
“She didn't have him by the hand, and at one point, he must have been behind her, out of sight.
"I don't think in her wildest imagination she thought he would actually go back and do that."
"All of a sudden, I heard a splash and someone yelled, 'Oh my God, there's a kid in there!'" O'Connor says.
"Kids, men, women, everyone started screaming and then the mother looked around and ran to the wall and said, 'Oh my God, that's my son.’ "
Already over 350,000 people from around the world have signed the 'Justice for Harambe' petition calling for action following 17-year-old killing on Saturday.
The signatories want Child Protective Services and the Cincinnati Police Department to hold Dickerson and Gregg responsible for the death of the male gorilla after Isaiah slipped from his mother’s control.
Read more:Zoo was recently warned after two POLAR BEARS escaped
The silverback’s shooting came despite the ape appearing to protect the boy from the rest of the primates in the gorilla enclosure.
Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon8CancelToday the zoo’s director Thomas Maynard again defended the decision to kill Harambe saying it was not a “gentle thing” and had seen it “take a coconut and crush it”.
Video footage showed the gorilla dragging the child by the ankle through the moat in its enclosure while terrified onlookers screamed.
The clip also appeared to show Harambe standing guard over the child and the two even sharing a brief moment holding hands.
The zoo decided to shoot, as opposed to tranquilise, the 32-stone gorilla to prevent a possible attack on the boy.
Maynard’s defence came as he also revealed the gorilla’s legacy may live on after vets had taken frozen sperm from him so his 'gene pool' would continue.
Harambe had not been mature enough to breed but his sperm was collected after his death for possible future reproductive use, as well as for research purposes.
Dickerson, 36, is no stranger to police.
The father, who has four children with preschool administrator Gregg, has criminal filings stretching back over a decade against him.
Read more:Bill Oddie blasts “stupid humans” over Harambe's death
They include burglary, firearms offences, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and kidnap.
Ten years ago he was given a one year prison sentence for drug trafficking.
However friends close to Dickerson, who works as sorter at a Cincinnati industrial equipment supplier, say he since turned his life around and now dotes on his children.
Following the incident the family released a statement via a public relations firm, saying Isaiah is “doing just fine” and offering condolences for the death of Harambe.
Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon8Cancel“We extend our heartfelt thanks for the quick action by the Cincinnati Zoo staff,” the statement read.
“We know that this was a very difficult decision for them, and that they are grieving the loss of their gorilla.”
The couple said they have turned down several lucrative offers to speak as they shield themselves from the massive social media backlash.
Gregg has become the focus of a furious online backlash with hundreds of thousands accusing her of failing to control her son.
Eddie Whrnbrg wrote on Facebook: "...the zoos aren't the problem. It's the idiotic parents."
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On Twitter @blxxm83 wrote: "So lazy parents can't control their wild kids and a beautiful endangered animal gets shot and killed because of it? #Harambe #RIPHarambe"
In another tweet @brittrosenthal wrote "Sad thing is it looked like #Harambe was protecting the kid more than the parent was. #CincinnatiZoo"
Many have called for Gregg to be dismissed from her job.
She has since deleted her profile from Facebook.
It is not only the parent’s who may face charges.
Animal rights activists have made a formal complaint to the United States Department of Agriculture and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA) following the shooting.
Stop Animal Exploitation NOW (SAEN) alleges several potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act, which governs zoos and wildlife parks and is intended to protect both animals and visitors.
The group also pointed to a recent safety breach at the attraction, when two polar bears escaped their enclosure and got into a service hallway.
The zoo was cited after the breach in March this year, prompting the campaign group to say that it raised questions over its approach to safety.
Michael Budkie, the spokesman for SAEN, said: “If this enclosure had been constructed adequately a four-year-old child could not have penetrated it.
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“This wasn't someone who came in with grappling hooks and ropes. You tell me. If a four-year-old child can get through the barrier is that a safe barrier?’
The group's complaint focuses on the killing of Harambe being the second incident within just over ten weeks.
On March 17 this year the USDA cited the zoo when two polar bears – 'Little One' and 'Berit' - escaped their enclosure and entered the zoo's Bearline service hallway.
The discovery was made by a keeper when she entered the hallway to be confronted by a female bear about 30 feet away.
Western Iowland gorillas are critically endangered in the wild.
They are found in the dense rain forests of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, where their numbers have declined by more than 60 per cent over the last 20 to 25 years.
Their are now estimated to be fewer than 175,000.
The Cincinnati Zoo has a long history of breeding gorillas. Fifty gorilla babies have been born there the past 46 years.
Harambe was born in captivity in Texas and moved to Cincinnati zoo in 2014, where it was hoped he could be part of that breeding programme.
Zoo tragedy of Harambe the gorilla
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